Sámi languages

group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in northern Europe
(Redirected from Northern Sami language)

The Sámi languages are a branch of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people. They are spoken in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. They are Uralic languages like Finnish, Estonian, and Hungarian.

Sámi
Native toFinland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia
RegionSápmi (Lapland)
EthnicitySámi
Native speakers
Approximately 20,000–30,000[source?]
Uralic
  • Sámi
Official status
Official language in
Sweden and some parts of Norway; recognized as a minority language in several municipalities of Finland.
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
sia – Akkala
sjd – Kildin
sjk – Kemi
sjt – Ter
smn – Inari
sms – Skolt
sju – Ume
sje – Pite
sme – Northern
smj – Lule
sma – Southern
Historically verified distribution of the Sami languages: 1. Southern Sami, 2. Ume Sami, 3. Pite Sami, 4. Lule Sami, 5. Northern Sami, 6. Skolt Sami, 7. Inari Sami, 8. Kildin Sami, 9. Ter Sami. Darkened area represents municipalities that recognize Sami as an official language.

They are sometimes considered dialects of the same language, but people from different dialects mostly do not understand one another. They share many things with the Baltic-Finnic languages such as Finnish, Estonian and Karelian but are not closely related to any of them. Their grammars are similar that of Finnish, but their syntax has undergone influence from the Scandinavian languages.[1]

Some linguists have a theory that the Sámi languages have come from a Proto-Sámi language, which existed c. 500 BC.[2][3][4]

The Sámi languages include East Sámi.[5]

Western Sámi languages

change
  • Southwestern
    • Southern Sami (600)[6]
      • Åsele dialect
      • Jämtland dialect
    • Ume Sami (20)[7]
  • Northwestern
    • Northwestern proper
    • Northern Sami (20,000)[10]
      • Torne Sami
      • Finnmark Sami
      • Sea Sami

Eastern Sámi languages

change
 
Sami languages and settlements in Russia:
  Skolt (Russian Notozersky)
  Akkala (Russian Babinsky)
  Kildin
  Ter
change

References

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  1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sami-language#ref28791 Accessed 2017-08-25
  2. https://www.sagat.no/debatt/hva-er-samenes-eldre-historie/19.43546. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  3. https://www.academia.edu/114870366/Comment_on_the_article_Archaeology_Language_and_the_Question_of_S%C3%A1mi_Ethnogenesis?%20email_work_card=view-paper. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  4. https://www.academia.edu/105674225/Archaeology_Language_and_the_Question_of_S%C3%A1mi_Ethnogenesis?%20email_work_card=reading-history%3Cbr/%3E. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  5. "East Sami language". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  6. "Saami, South". Ethnologue.
  7. "Saami, Ume". Ethnologue.
  8. "Saami, Pite". Ethnologue.
  9. "Saami, Lule". Ethnologue.
  10. "Saami, North". Ethnologue.
  11. "Saami, Inari". Ethnologue.
  12. "Saami, Skolt". Ethnologue.
  13. "Saami, Kildin". Ethnologue.
  14. Karpova, Lisa (18 February 2010). "The 5 Smallest Languages of the World". PravdaReport. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  15. "Saami, Ter". Ethnologue.